MDF Trunk

Front

Hi all.  Thanks for popping in.  Today's make is a trunk (or large box) that I have been working on.  The MDF box was from Madhatters Crafts.  I have a lot of magazines piled on a table and I thought this was ideal for storing them in a tidy fashion.

Rather than paint it I decided to use some paper/card. I needed some A3 to cover the largest section of the box - so it was raid my craft stash.    20 years ago we used this green leather effect card for my daughter's wedding invitations, and I loved it so much, that I bought some extra card when we visited the Paper Mill on year at the Clark's Village.  It was perfect what I had in mind.

Back showing hinges

The trims. hinges and clasp all just had gilding Pebeo gilding wax applied in a deep gold that looked like brass.  I applied it fairly randomly so that it looked a bit "worn/aged" in places.

I must add that the hinge mechanism is brilliant.

Side view showing faux handles

Although I think I actually built the handles the wrong way (I believe there should actually be a gap between the "strap" and the box - but hey ho it doesn't matter I wouldn't have used them as handles as such anyway when it was full.   I created a leather strap with Hearty Clay.  The strap mould I had wasn't wide enough so I used the dragon skin mould to create a "croc skin" finish, which I then painted with brown acrylic paint.   The whole thing was then sprayed with Crafters Companion Spray and Shine.  This made the card shine, and although it was a bit "patchy" in places, it added to the "aged" look.

I have just to to finish the lining of it now - with some more A3 paper from my stash which is a sort of pale green marble effect.

Mixed Media Grungy Tool Box

One side

I suddenly realised that I hadn't posted the pictures of my little tool box, having earlier posted the work in progress photos.

Second side

I used various techniques with crackle paint, acrylic paints, stamps, distress oxides, stencils, spray inks, and crystal tints.  This is quite a deviation from my normal painting, but having been fascinated my examples of mixed media pieces, particularly those with a "grunge" them, I wanted to have a go.  It was sealed with Spray and Shine when I had finished to seal it.

One end 

The other end

With some of my tools in it 

Another view

I am quite pleased with the overall result, and if I get fed up with it - I can always apply some more gesso and start again!

If it doesn't move it'll get painted ....

 Yes it's a bit like that at the moment ....... am loving the sparkle paint so much.   This first project was to give a coat of paint to the rusty sun umbrella stand.   It has come up a treat.  (Mind you I am wondering whether a touch of gilding wax on the roses would look OTT).

revamped sun umbrella stand

Next on the list was a revamp of some bamboo wind chimes, that were last painted 7 years ago.

work in progress

The finished article.  As with previous posts I painted the bamboo with the black sparkle paint, and then using the paint fusion technique I decorated the chimes.

and the "dangler"

The wind chimes before I started - as you can see
 they had become rather faded over the years.

I decided to keep to the one theme of roses and daisies.   However, I do have another set of bamboo chimes, so perhaps they will have a more random painting on them  :)